Although multiple-unit housing has long been recognized for its space efficiency and maximum utilization of land, the last 20 years has seen a significant increase in the number of multiple-unit housing starts wherein the building modules are substantially preconstructed in a plant and then transported to a location where they are assembled.
Representative of this type of construction and concept is the housing arrangement disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,983. This prior patent discloses a particular arrangement of dwelling units wherein the units are arranged in such a manner as to generally enclose an open-air court. The units have a staggered assembly, corner to corner, in the shape of a square or quadrangle where an end of one unit abuts the side of an adjacent unit, and so forth until the courtyard area is enclosed by a total of four units, as the minimum number in the exemplary embodiment.
The preconstructed, multiple-unit housing disclosed in my prior patent included variations such as adding a second story and creating walkways to and from the open-air court. While still utilizing the basic concepts of an enclosed courtyard, it is envisioned that improvements can be made to the structure in the type of construction and architectural designs which are possible. However, one remaining limitation is the width of the preconstructed unit due to the width of roads and highways over which this unit must travel from the plant to the housing location.
What the present invention provides is a novel approach to enable the square footage of each unit to be increased without increasing the width limitation of the units for transporting across the highways. This improvement is achieved by designing each single-width housing unit with an open wall such that facing open walls of two units can be abutted together and secured in place thereby doubling the square footage of a single-wide unit. Further, the present invention provides, by its structure, a means of incorporating a garage or similar storage area which is attached to the housing quarters thereby enabling the beneficial and novel improvement of an attached garage as part of this multiple-unit housing arrangement. This resulting assembly provides a closer simulation to conventional multiple-unit housing in that there is an increase in square footage of living space which is not limited in width to what can be transported over the highway. The structure of an attached garage is a feature which most multiple-unit housing does not have. Whether this is due to the configuration of such units or the cost, the present invention enables this type of construction and is an improvement over what is currently known to exist.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,983 is believed to be the closest and most relevant reference to the present invention, the references cited during the prosecution of that patent application may be of some interest with regard to the present invention. However, a review of each of these patents and the publication reveal that the structural concepts of the present invention are novel and unobvious in that they are not found in any of the prior references nor are they taught by any combination of such references.